Croatian government to buy out MOL's stake in oil group INA - PM Plenkovic

MOL and INA have locked horns for years over control of the Croatian oil company. MOL has certain management control at INA under an agreement with the Croatian state, which holds 45 percent of INA.Reuters | December 25, 2016, 11:12 IST

SARAJEVO: The Croatian government will buy Hungarian oil group MOL's 49 percent stake in oil and gas company INA, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Saturday.

"The Hungarian side has been informed about this decision," Plenkovic told reporters. The acquisition will not harm Croatia's public debt, he said, without giving further details.

INA's shares last traded at 2,925 Croatian kuna ($405.26), which puts the value of MOL's stake in INA at around 14.5 billion Croatian kuna ($2.01 billion).

MOL and INA have locked horns for years over control of the Croatian oil company. MOL has certain management control at INA under an agreement with the Croatian state, which holds 45 percent of INA.

Plenkovic said the buy-out was in Croatia's best interests after a United Nations arbitration commission ruled that evidence presented by Croatia in a lawsuit against MOL were insufficient to prove that certain contracts made in 2009 were the result of corrupt activities.

He gave no further details of the lawsuit or the ruling, or why it had prompted Croatia's decision to buy MOL's INA stake.

MOL had indicated it was willing to consider selling its stake in INA if the two were unable to resolve issues around future cooperation. ($1 = 7.2175 kuna)